Never Engage a Chicken
by khughes830
Summary: Donna recounts her day post episode Freedonia.


Email: Never Engage a Chicken

Character: Donna, Josh and Will, for good measure

Category: Romance, Post-Episode "Freedonia"

Pair: Josh/Donna

Rating: G

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, but thank God to Aaron Sorkin for creating them. My life would not have been the same without them

So there she sat, at the bar, nursing her beer. She had just finished dinner with Will and they were now sitting at the bar having a couple of drinks before calling it a day. Will had been going on and on about the campaign and this and that and Russell – she had quit listening awhile ago. She had just spent the last hour or so reflecting on the day that had been.

The day had started out so normally, she struggled to see where it went so out of control. She had spent the day doing what she had been doing for the last few months – working for the preemptive Democratic nominee to take over for the man she admired more than anyone – well, ok, just about everyone. There was one person she admired more, but she had done her best not to think about him in recent weeks.

So the day progressed – campaign stop after campaign stop, lame Russell joke after lame Russell joke. She swore if she heard that stupid "if you close one eye and cock your head to one side, the seal…." joke one more time that she was going to start banging her head against something. Really, she thought, shouldn't Russell be taking this more seriously than he is?

That's where her mood was when they stopped at the ice rink – a little irritated. So, when the chicken walked past them, she knew something wasn't right. The guard said he was clean, but then the chicken started asking Russell why he was "too chicken to debate the entire field". It was her job to stop this and that she did, or tried to anyway. Before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth, they were out there - accusing the Santos campaign of frat boy tricks and kicking him out of this event. It was only then that she turned around and noticed all the cameras were pointed directly at her. "Please tell me you aren't going to use that!" It was more of a plea with the gods more than anything else. When Will smirked, shook his head, and tried his best to get the cameras to focus back on the VP, she knew what had just happened – she walked right into one of his tricks AGAIN! Her mood then went from a little irritated to really, really annoyed.

Once they left the rink, they made a couple more short stops and then headed back to the hotel before the evening events. She really needed to gather her thoughts and she had to try to pretend this hadn't happened, but that was too good to be true. She flipped on the TV when she got in the room and just stood there stunned. She had forgotten she left on CNN when she left that morning and now, she was staring at herself yelling at a man in a chicken costume. She started to rub her temples with her fingers and sat down on the bed. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse, which had been off during the stops, to call Will to see what he wanted to do for dinner, when she noticed 4 missed calls.

Message 1: "yeah, Donna, hey, it's Margaret. Was that really you on CNN yelling at a large chicken? Oh wait, Carol just yelled that it's on again…. Oh my god, Donna! You're on CNN yelling at a chicken". From there, Donna could only hear the hysterical laughter of Margaret, Carol, and Ginger. Delete!

Message 2: "bwak, bwak, bwak, bwak, bwak, bwak", which had a distinctive Southern drawl. She'd get Ainsley back for that! Delete!

Message 3: "God Donna, that's got to be the funniest thing I've seen in awhile! I haven't laughed that hard since the night Josh and I tried to set the White House on fire. Anyway, call me later. It's Sam by the way." Yeah, thanks for the update on that – like she didn't immediately recognize his voice. Delete!

Message 4: "Donna, my dear, did we not teach you any better than that! I mean, you never engage a chicken – it's never going to end well. I told Josh earlier that he should have taught you better – I figured he would have! Anyway, thanks for the entertainment. I haven't seen Margaret ever laugh that hard. Oh wait, there they go again – must be on again. Anyway, talk to you later". Wait, did CJ just say that she had talked to Josh today about this! Great, now she had the thought in her head that Josh was somewhere around talking about her. That's not what she needed now. Delete!

She grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. She turned off her cell again and threw on the bed in disgust. All she wanted was a bath and some time to think. Hell, she didn't even work for him anymore and she had walked right into one of his Lucy and Ethel plots. She had played right into his hand without even knowing about it and had now given free exposure to the Santos campaign. Yeah, that was REALLY going to help her job security! She grabbed some clean clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a nice, long, hot bath when there was a knock at the door.

She threw the door open to see Will standing there. She noticed he had the sheepish look on his face. "What is it Will?"

"Well, Donna, one of the porters grabbed me and said that this had been delivered earlier for you. I told him I would get it to you."

When he handed her the envelope, she noticed the White House seal on the back of the envelope. Yeah, cause this was going to be anything but more jokes at her expense. She opened the envelope, read the note, sighed, and handed everything back to Will. "Well, looks like dinner is on them tonight! I'm gonna take a bath and try to get chicken thoughts out of my head!" With that, she shut the door.

Will walked back toward the elevators, reading out loud to himself – "Donna, dinner's on us tonight. Charlie, Debbie, Leo and the President". Once Will saw the gift certificates to KFC, he had to take off his glasses cause he was laughing so hard.

Will's cell phone ringing snapped her out of her trance. She hadn't heard one word he had said for the last 20 minutes. She was still nursing the same beer, wondering how things had gotten out of her control. She had been in control of her own destiny over the last few months. She was helping to guide Russell – it was supposed to be so easy. When, over the course of the day, had they lost their grip on this thing. They went from being in complete control of this debate to having to sit back and deal with Matt Santos' rules! She got a little angry at that, but she was more upset about the fact that Will had told her that Amy Gardner was in town. Just the thought of her name made her blood boil just a little bit. All she needed was a run-in with Josh and Amy after they had taken control of this day, so she hid out in the back room, watching the debate on TV and guiding the junior staffers while Will dealt with things out front.

She and Will had dined on KFC – like they were going to turn down a free dinner – and decided to grab drinks. He put his hand over the phone – "I'll be right back. Order me another beer!" – and was out the door still talking about something, not sure what though. She wondered if she should find out, but then decided, hell, if he needs me, he'll come get me!

She got the bartender's attention and ordered Will another beer. It was then that she felt it – the wave of a stare. Not just any stare, but THAT stare in particular. She thought to herself, "surely, no way is this possible. Do you know how many bars there must be in this town!" Granted, over the last few months, she had gotten used to people staring at her, but this stare was different and she knew it, she could feel it. She spent 7 years feeling this stare – she knew exactly what it felt like. It was like a wave came over her and she knew, without a doubt, that Josh Lymon was staring at her from the door across the room.

Determined not to look in his direction and give him any kind of satisfaction, she shifted her eyes over in his general direction. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him and he began to swagger over in her direction. "Great", she thought, "he knows exactly what kind of victory he has in his hands and I'm about to get an earful". She refused to cave, though. She was here first and she refused to get up and avoid him.

She noticed that he sat about 4 or 5 chairs down from him. She saw him, once again, out of the corner of her eye, smirk at her and then call for the bartender. "My good man, may I please get a Gin and Tonic, for I had a very, very good day!" She had meant to just groan in her head, but it was out of her mouth before she knew it! "Crap", she thought, "he's going to use that as his opening", and knowing him as well as she did, she was right.

"Donnatella, how are you this lovely and fantastic evening?"

"Shut up Joshua" she said not even looking at him, taking a swig of her beer. Before she knew it, he was sitting beside her.

"Now, now Donnatella, such harsh words…"

She had no choice but to look at him. God, did he look good. She hadn't seen him since Iowa, but she had missed looking at him. No, she though, stop it now! That part of your life is over and you are working to make a name for yourself! Stop fantasizing about Josh Lymon.

"Josh, look, as I'm sure you know, it's been a bad day, especially for me, so could you please keep your gloating and ego down as much as you are able to!"

He smiled at her, dimples and all, and took a swig of his drink. "Yeah, CJ got quite a kick out of you in a chicken fight on CNN today!"

"And what about you?"

"What do you mean, Donna?"

"Oh please, Josh. I'm sure you and everyone at the Santos camp had a great laugh at my expense! I'm sure you couldn't WAIT to tell them all who I was – how I was the fool that left you to work for Russell and that I had played right into your hand and made it easier for you to get the press you needed today." She had gotten started and she couldn't stop herself now. "You know, Josh, do you have any idea what I'm trying to do here? I'm trying to make a name for myself, think about my future and myself for once. I'm trying to do good work for the country and continue what I learned at the White House and all you can do is come and make jokes and, once again, rope me into one of your little plans to show everyone that you can dominate no matter what and that you have the power! Well, congratu-freakin'-lations – you succeeded!"

She had been so busy giving him a piece of her mind that she hadn't noticed that the smirk and smile were gone. It was only when she took a breath to continue on with her rant that she noticed that there wasn't any gloating.

"Donna."

"What?"

"Can I get a word in edgewise?"

"Whatever Josh. Like I can stop you."

He took another swig of his drink and started.

"Donna, I didn't tell anyone in the camp who you were or that I knew you. There was no gloating or fun had at your expense, at least not by me."

She was stunned. "What do you mean you didn't tell anyone you knew me?"

"Exactly what I just said. Yeah, they all had a good laugh at the woman making a fool out of herself by engaging a chicken on CNN, but I swear, none of it came from me".

Once again, she was speechless, so he continued.

"Look, Donna, I had no intention of making a fool out of you. I wanted to get my guy in the debate and I needed something drastic. Those poor kids had no idea what they were getting into when I sent them out to bug Russell and Hoynes. Then, I saw you on CNN and CJ called and we talked about it and you….." He kind of trailed off at this point. "I swear, Donna, not one derogatory word came out of my mouth about you. I have too much respect for you and what you are trying to do for yourself to do that to you, whether or not you are around."

They stared at each other for a moment and then each turned to their respective drink. They just sat with each other – relishing in the fact that it had been months since they had been together like this. Hell, she couldn't think of a time since she got back from Germany that they had just sat and had drinks together.

Finally, she had to ask – "So, where's Amy?" with so much hate and venom in her voice that Josh couldn't help but notice. It took him back a little bit.

"Gone. Left about 3 hours ago to go back to DC."

"So she's not around for good?"

"God no. Santos wanted her help prepping for the debate."

"Oh". And they, once again, sat in silence. She couldn't help but notice how relieved he sounded about the fact that Amy was only around temporarily.

"So, Donnatella, you and Will seem quite chummy."

"Geez, Josh, who else am I supposed to hang out with and have dinner with? We have 12 year olds working this campaign, so unless I want to talk about Lindsey Lohan or that new Eminem CD, Will is about all I have."

"Well, you know, Donna, we are going to be on much of the same routes for the next few months, and I was thinking that it might be nice if…." And he trailed off again.

"If what Joshua?"

"If you would like to have dinner with me sometime."

She stared at him, taking in everything he had just said to her.

"And, I can promise something with a little more class than KFC". She glared at him and he chuckled. "Sorry. I couldn't resist. Charlie called and he thought it was brilliant!"

He took a drink and just looked at her, smiling.

"Did you just mean what you said, about dinner?"

"Of course, I wouldn't have said it if I didn't."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to have dinner with me? At this point, I'm still the enemy."

"OK, first of all, you could never be an enemy, not to me anyway. Besides, your Donna – why wouldn't I want to have dinner with you?"

Her hands were holding on to her beer, they had been this whole time. Josh took her left hand and placed it between both of his hands and he turned toward her. She had no choice but to shift her position until they were both facing each other.

She just stared at him. It had been weeks since they had talked and she was just soaking all this in. She had been so snarky to him that first day in New Hampshire and had felt so bad about it since. She hadn't expected to see him in Iowa and couldn't get over the fact that they were right across the hall from each other. She looked him up and down and watched him muster all his strength for the next line of conversation.

"Look, Donna, here's the thing – I have missed you. You just walked right of my life just like you walked into it, with no warning. Not that I blame you. I know that you spent more time than you should have thinking about and caring about…. other things. I know you let your life and your plans slip by the wayside and I know that I was a big reason that happened. I was just so grateful that you were there, that you had come into my life, that I didn't think about why or how or what else you wanted to do with your life. And, if you are curious, I can finally admit that I was proud to see that you had taken an interest in the next administration and that you wanted to see a good and true man as the next president that I couldn't have ever been mad that you left how you did. I would never have made it easy for you to leave, so you had to take your chance and find your time. But that doesn't change the fact that I have missed you tons and that I want to spend some time with you."

She could feel the tears in her eyes and Josh notice that too, cause he just smiled and continued on.

"I want to spend some time with you, now that things and circumstances have changed. I don't know how you feel about that, but it's something that I really want to do. So, Donnatella Moss, how about it – take pity on your former boss and have dinner with him on the campaign sometime?"

She gave him that 100-Watt smile, that one that he loved so much, the smile that she considered her "Josh" smile. "Of course I'll have dinner with you. Josh, there's just so much that has gone on and so much I really want to talk about with you, but we always seem to have this bad timing thing".

"Look, Donna, yeah, right now, thing are rough with all the different candidates, but soon, the field will be just one and we will be working toward the same goal again. And yes, there are many things that I want to discuss with you as well, but we need to start simple, like with dinner soon."

They stared at each other and knew that the timing was still bad, but that the bad timing was quickly coming to an end. Without saying it out loud, each knew that soon things would be as they should be.

"Josh, dinner would be a fantastic start!"

She then got what she had been waiting for – the dimple smile, the smile that made her heart race faster than normal.

So, there they sat, holding hands and smiling like fools at each other, forgetting about the rest of the world, until a voice broke their trance.

"Donna. Josh."

She looked up and saw Will standing there. Josh let go of her hands and placed them in her lap. He got out of the chair to greet Will. "How's it going Will?" he said while standing in front of her. She was still staring at him from her position.

"Not too bad Josh. Seems like you and Santos had a good day."

"Yeah, this day turned out a lot better than I expected it to when I got out of bed this morning." He looked down and smiled at Donna – the double meaning hadn't been lost on her.

"Well", Josh started, "I should be off". With that, he moved to leave the bar.

With all the strength she could muster at this point, Donna started. "Josh…."

"Donnatella, don't worry. I'll find you!"

Josh smiled down at her, grabbed her right hand and planted a gentle kiss on the inside of her wrist. She about fell out of her chair!

"You all have a wonderful night. Sweet dreams, Donnatella!"

And with that, Josh Lymon was out the door. Stunned with the turn of events, Donna ordered another beer.

Will had been watching the scene play out for a few minutes from outside the bar.

"Donna, you alright?"

"Yeah, Will, I'm fine. Perfect in fact!"

She smiled at no one in particular, reveling in the events that just unfolded. Today had been such a crappy day, she thought. How did it end so perfectly? She wondered, would things have ended the same if she hadn't engaged the chicken? She would never know and she didn't care anymore. Josh Lymon wanted to spend time with her, wanted her. That's all she needed to get her through till their dinner, whenever that turned out to be. With that, she turned to Will to find out about the call.

The End


End file.
